Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Century 21: The 1962 Seattle World's Fair Had No Internet

Century 21, before it became the name of a well known real estate company, was the name of the 1962 Seattle World's Fair. If I remember right, and I probably don't, the full name was Century 21 World of Tomorrow. The World's Fair was a transformative time for Seattle and the Pacific Northwest.

Life in the next century, that being the one we are living in now, was the theme of Century 21.

The Seattle World's Fair ended up not being very accurately predictive about the future. The future ended up being quite a bit more amazing than anything imagined for Century 21 in 1962 Seattle.

Personal computers, cell phones, digital cameras, the Internet, flat panel TVs, thousands of TV channels, DVRs, DVDs, I-Pods, Pads and Phones, Space Shuttles, the end of the Soviet Union, none of that was predicted in Seattle in 1962.

The Seattle World's Fair is one of the few World's Fairs that managed to turn a profit. And it left Seattle and the Northwest with the Seattle Center, it being a gift that keeps on giving.

The video below gives you a little bit of a time machine trip back to Seattle of 1962...

2 comments:

Steve A said...

I remember the fair well. Thanks for the post.

Durango Northwest said...

Steve A, ain't it amazing how dated it all looked?